Embers: Spicy Sides from Fire in the Vein
by ElleCC
Summary: Side notes and chapters to accompany “A Murmur of Fire in the Vein.” Backstories, alternate POVs, etc. Contains the Sept '09 Support Stacie Auction outtake "Jasper Seizes the Moment," and the March '10 EmRo FFFA.
1. It All Goes to Hell

**This collection of pieces will supplement _A Murmur of Fire in the Vein_. You DO NOT NEED to read anything posted here in order for FitV to make sense. It is all just extra material, even though it can all be considered "FitV Canon" - it happened, we just don't see it in the main story.**

**Thanks to Jessica C., Legna, and Daisy for their help with the title.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

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"In Which It All Goes To Hell" - This is the one folks have wanted.

**If you choose to read this, I recommend doing so between chapters 9 and 13 of FitV.**

******Legna has read this 989 times. She's a superstar.**

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___**Time frame: June 2008, ten months prior to Chapter One: "In Which Jasper Shows Up at the Door."**_

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_**In Which It All Goes to Hell**_

"This isn't working."

"What's not working?" Edward asked absently, studying the thick textbook in front of him. He had gotten his hands on some of his books for his first year of medical school and was already starting to read them. I could understand wanting to be prepared, but the poor guy deserved some sort of break. We had just graduated a couple of weeks ago and had the whole summer before our new programs started. But it was typical Edward to want to stay indoors on a rare gorgeous summer day. It was no wonder we were both so pale.

I closed the novel that was resting in my lap and set it next to me, on the end of Edward's large desk. By this point it was just a prop, anyway. I hadn't turned a page in twenty minutes.

"This... you, me, us... it's just not working."

He finally looked up, surprise clear on his face. "Baby, what are you talking about?" He sounded confused, but there was just no way. We might have been out of sync lately, but we hadn't been on different planets. He had to know what I meant.

"Things haven't been right for weeks and you know it just as well as I do." I leaned back in my chair, watching him. Really, it had been a lot longer than that. Months, maybe. Things hadn't been terrible, they'd just been _off. _In addition to being out of sync, we'd been irritable with one another, and recently, more and more, I'd been happy to spend an evening alone at home when Edward wanted to study at the library.

Our first ten months had been amazing. So good, in fact, that we had been worried that neither of us was going to qualify to graduate. But after that initial surge had faded, we'd never been able to get it back.

"What are you talking about?" he repeated. I registered the slight change in his tone, the one that indicated he knew that we were finally going to have The Conversation.

"Edward..." I looked at him, waiting for his expression to catch up, to show that we were on the same page, but it didn't. "Can't you feel it? Can't you tell that things aren't right anymore? I know it's not just me."

He frowned. "Bella, why are you bringing it up now? We've already started to make plans for next year."

"That's just it. We can't make any more plans or things are going to get too complicated and messy." I looked down at my hands and tried to remember how long it had been since I had let Alice force me to paint my nails. I wondered how upset she was going to be after this was over.

"How long have you been thinking about this?" he asked quietly.

I rubbed my eyes tiredly. When I'd been lying in the dark at 3:00 this morning, staring at Edward's ceiling because I couldn't get out of my head the thought of us moving in together, I knew we had to have this discussion. Soon.

"I was hoping that after graduation, things would go back to how they'd been," I said.

"We only graduated two weeks ago. They still could."

"No, I don't think so."

"Why?"

"I think..." I hesitated. "I think it's bigger than just us being snarky with one another because we're stressed about finals. It's just... I don't think we're as compatible as we thought we were."

"Sure we are." His brow was furrowed and that little crease between his eyes that always indicated frustration was already deep. "We love all of the same things."

"Edward, we both love movies but not the same ones. The last time I tried to get you to watch a Hitchcock movie, you flipped the fuck out, remember?" He nodded tightly. "We both love music but not the same artists. You know you can't stand half of what I listen to. The last time I let you near my iPod you replaced half of my playlists with Bach concertos." Boy, had that pissed me off. I'd joked with him about it at the time but only because I really hadn't wanted to start a fight. "And while I grew up watching baseball with Charlie, I wouldn't shed a tear if I never saw another game. Really, the only thing we have in common is Alice."

I wasn't going to mention to him that sometimes he was overbearing and his caveman tendencies when we went out in public were a bit much. I knew those were just Edward sorts of things and he would claim he was that way because he loved me. Bringing them up would do nothing but hurt him unnecessarily.

I had realized that the longer I was with Edward, the less I was myself. I let my relationship with him completely overwhelm my world and I was starting to forget who I could be when I wasn't with him. And when I _was _with him, I was "Edward's Girlfriend." I didn't want to be "Edward's Girlfriend." I wanted to be Bella Swan. I would be okay being "Bella Swan, who happened to be Edward's girlfriend," but I didn't think that was going to happen in this relationship.

Edward's face went from sad to angry and back to sad while I was speaking. I knew he wanted to argue with me – Edward would argue from the grave, one day – but I was right, and he couldn't fight and win. I scooted my desk chair closer to his and reached toward him, waiting for him to flinch. I was surprised when he didn't. I picked up one of his hands and started to run my fingers along the back. Someday, these hands would make him as excellent a surgeon as he was a piano player. I hoped to be lucky enough to still know him then, but I knew it wouldn't be as his girlfriend or wife.

"Bella, plenty of couples don't have much in common. We'll find something new for both of us." His voice was controlled but had a hard edge. I watched him as he tried to rationalize all of this in his black and white way. He turned his hand over and captured my fingers, gripping them tightly. "So, we just give up without a fight?"

I wasn't sure how to answer this without making this even more painful, and I didn't know if that was possible. I was starting to think that Edward was probably going to hate me after this and the thought of that made my stomach tighten painfully.

"I think we can fight for it," I said carefully, "but..."

"But what, baby?" He squeezed my fingers reassuringly and the combination of his touch and his affectionate "baby" made me want to throw up. Breaking up with Edward Cullen would never be at the top of my list of things to be happy about.

I squeezed his fingers back. "But, do we really want to fight for it if it just isn't going to work out?"

"You're basically saying I'm not important enough to fight for?"

"No, Edward, that's not what I'm saying. You mean a lot to me."

"A lot." He chuckled but it sounded hollow. "So, I mean 'a lot' to you, but you still don't want to fight for us?"

He stared at me for a minute and when I didn't answer, he pulled his hand from mine and slid his chair back, out of my reach. He got up and walked to his window where he leaned his forehead against the glass. His room faced the backyard and I imagined he was looking at the hammock he and Emmett had strung between two trees last summer. We'd logged more than our fair share of time in that hammock.

"Bella, do you really want to do this?" His voice had the same empty quality as his chuckle.

_No, Edward, I don't really want to do this, because I love you, but I can see where this is going. You're going to want to get married in a year because that's how you are. Then in ten years and two kids, one of us – probably me – is going to be so tired and bored and resentful, that it'll only be a matter of time before one of us walks out the door. Better to do it now before there are kids and we're affecting more lives than our own._

I wanted to say all of that aloud, but I couldn't.

"Edward, when you take some time to think about this, you'll know that I'm right. I promise."

He sighed but didn't turn from the window.

I stood and gathered my book and bag. "I'm going to head out now. I'll talk to you... soon." I wanted to say more but couldn't think of anything that wouldn't make things worse. I would call him when we'd both had some time to think about it. When he still hadn't moved by the time I had my hand on the doorknob, I kept going.

I was on the fourth step down when I heard him behind me.

"Wait, baby, don't leave."

I walked straight to the foyer, ignoring whoever might have been in the living room, knowing there was no way we'd be lucky enough to be alone in the usually busy house.

"Edward, I have to." I slipped on my shoes and moved toward the door but Edward stepped in front of me. Now that I'd gotten it out of my system, I had to continue out of the house before I caved and we ended up right back where we'd been.

"Please, let's talk about-"

"What's going on?" A voice followed us from the direction of the living room. I groaned internally.

"Nothing, Alice," we both said. Neither of us looked at her.

"I'll come back in a few days for all of my things, okay?" I spoke softly, hoping Alice would leave us alone. No such luck.

"Whoa, are you breaking up?" Alice's voice was incredulous and I finally turned my head to look at her. She was going to be mad as hell that I hadn't talked with her about this first – or even that I was thinking about it – but she had to know that my allegiance went to her brother first, as I knew hers did. If I had told her what I'd been thinking, it would have taken some serious bribery to get her not to go to him the minute I wasn't around. She and I could sit down later, after we'd all had a little bit of time to calm down, and talk about it. I looked into her eyes and pled silently for her to drop it.

But she was Alice and she didn't drop things. I usually loved that about her.

"You _are_ breaking up! Why?" She stepped closer to us and turned to Edward. "What are you _doing?_"

Edward sighed. "I'm trying to get her to stay."

Alice's expression changed. She had obviously thought Edward was ending the relationship. She turned to me, eyes wide.

"Wait. You're breaking up with my brother?" Alice's voice was rising by the syllable and Jasper was suddenly behind her, hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Alice. Let them be. This is their business." He tugged gently to pull her back into the living room. Alice shook him off.

"No, this is not just their business. We're a family. This is family business." She looked at me, eyes narrowed. "Are you cheating on him?"

Edward cringed. That obviously hadn't occurred to him, which warmed my heart for a split second.

"Christ, Alice! No, I am not cheating on him! Why would you even think that?"

"Well, why else would you break up with him? This is _Edward_. Girls don't break up with him."

Edward paled and I felt bad that I was about to leave him alone to deal with whatever his sister would say after I left. "Definitely going now," I said to him, as I moved to push past him.

"Baby, come on. Just stay and we'll talk about this."

"We've already talked about it."

"There's more to talk about. We can work this out." His eyes and voice were pleading with me to stay.

There was a snort from the direction of the living room and I looked up to see that Rose and Emmett had joined the little armageddon in the front hall. Emmett frowned at Rose and she didn't follow the snort with a comment.

I stood watching Edward, feeling my stomach fall further and further toward my feet. He stepped forward and put his hands on my shoulders, obviously not caring that we might as well have been doing this in the middle of the mall for all the privacy we had. He opened his mouth and shoved a knife into my gut.

"Baby, don't you love me?"

My breath hitched and I knew it would only be minutes before this turned into a tearfest and I didn't want to do that here. "Edward," I said softly, "yes, I do love you. You know that."

His eyes brightened. "Then what's the problem?"

I looked at our audience and Emmett and Jasper had the grace to look away. I looked back at Edward and shrugged. His big hands were heavy on my shoulders. "I don't know if love is enough."

Edward dropped his hands and took a step back. For the first time since I'd started this conversation, he looked devastated. My heart broke as I felt the expression on his face pulsing through my chest.

There was heavy silence in the hallway as Edward and I stared at each other. Before either of us could say something, Alice spoke up. "She's right, Edward. Just let her go."

"Alice, please, not right now." Edward raked a hand through his hair and opened his mouth to say something else but Alice got there first.

"She's not worth it. You can do much better."

"Alice!" This time, Emmett started to move toward Alice. He backed off when Rose blocked him with her body and a glare.

Edward and I stared mutely at Alice.

"Seriously, Edward, what did you expect? You'd marry her? Have some babies? Live a nice, long, boring life with Bella, the Queen of Mediocrity?" Alice's tone was biting and caustic. I had heard it a few times before but certainly never directed at me.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shock strained my voice.

"Oh, come on, Bella. You know that Edward would get bored with you. That's why you're leaving, right? You're dumping him before he can dump you? Your typical evasive tactics?"

"Alice, what the f-"

"Remember you told me that you'd been dating that guy when you left high school for college?"

"Jesus, that was completely different. I was seventeen, for one thi-"

"And weren't you dating a different guy when you left Phoenix to transfer up here?"

I gaped at her. I had only mentioned these things to her in passing. This was a terrible time for her to remember these little tidbits and it didn't help that she was taking them completely out of context. Edward wouldn't know that. I couldn't turn to look at him even though I could feel him staring at me. "Another completely different situation."

"But you're running away again, aren't you?"

"Alice, I love you, but could you please keep out of this?" She was taking a bad situation and making it exponentially worse.

"No, I'm not keeping out of this. Edward is my brother and you're trying to hurt him."

"I am not _trying _to hurt him and this is _really_ none of your business. Please back off."

Alice apparently took that literally and as a challenge because she took two steps closer to me. I was three or four inches taller than she was, but she was wearing platform sandals and, at the moment, we were standing at more or less the same height. She got right in my face.

"It _is_ my business. Edward is my business. All of the people in this house are my business. And don't tell me to _back off_ in my own home." I could see a tiny vein at her temple starting to pulse.

"All right, I'm going now. Edw-" I tried to turn to Edward but Alice grabbed my arm and with it my attention. Her sharp nails dug painfully into my bare skin.

"Edward is so much better than you, Bella." She was practically hissing. "Don't you forget that. The minute you're out that door, he's going to be happy you've left. It'll be like you never existed. This whole sad thing he's pulling is probably just an act so he doesn't hurt your feelings too badly. You never would have held his attention. I'm sure you can go find some other rich guy who will be just as boring as you are and won't know any better."

I stared at her, dumbfounded, incapable of thinking of a thing to say. Where was this coming from? Never once in the past fifteen months had she ever given me any indication that she felt this way about me or my relationship with her brother. If this was how the Cullens closed ranks, I would add that to my list of reasons why getting out of here was a good idea.

She gripped my arm tighter, apparently gearing up to continue her rant. "Edward deserves someone on his level. Someone with class and grace, not someone who shops at Target and can't even wear high heels."

I ripped my arm out of Alice's grip and felt her nails tear through my skin.

"Just for once, Alice, for _once,_ could you possibly keep your goddamn mouth shut? _This_ _is our_ _business_, and while your family seems to put up with your constant meddling, it is really not endearing and I'm _not_ your family and I'm done putting up with it. So _back. The fuck. Off_. _Now_."

Alice's face was furious and her whole body tensed. For a moment, I thought she was going to hit me but then Jasper wrapped his arms around her from behind and picked her up.

"Time to go, Alice."

"Jasper, put me the fuck down!" She squirmed in his arms and one of her platforms nailed him in the shin. He dropped her and she immediately stalked back toward me. Edward moved to step between us but Alice pushed him to the side and was in my face again.

"You're right, you're not family and you never were. You could never be a Cullen. You won't be missed." She pushed past Edward and yanked open the door. He jumped out of the way and narrowly avoided it before it crashed into the wall. She grabbed my arm, but my feet, clumsy at best unless clad in running shoes, tangled.

I fell heavily against Alice, pushing both of us into the storm door. The thin glass shattered from the pressure of our shoulders. With our weight against it, the door flew open and we both fell forward through the now-empty doorway in a shower of sharp edges and flailing arms.

I heard feet and voices rushing toward us but things were happening too fast. Searing pain radiated up my arm as I tried to break my fall. The sickening thud of Alice's head hitting the ground drew my eyes to her as we hit the concrete front step hard.

Her eyes were unfocused and I could see blood starting to leak onto the concrete under her head. I registered little stings up and down my skin but it was hard to focus on them with the overwhelming burning in my arm.

Edward and Jasper were crouched over us but I could barely distinguish their voices as they asked if we were okay. When Alice finally blinked and looked up at Jasper, I released the breath I had been holding. Thankfully, the cut on her temple didn't look too bad. I struggled to sit up, shrugging off Edward's hands. With my screaming arm freed from under my body, I could see that that my wrist was already starting to swell.

"Bella, that's broken."

"I'm calling Dad," I heard Emmett say from inside.

"No, I'm fine." I braced my forearm against my stomach and gripped the railing next to the steps to drag myself to my feet. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine, Bella." Edward reached to pull me into him but I stepped back, mindful of where the steps started, not wanting to fall down those, too.

Alice was on her feet, leaning against Jasper. She was shaking her head and wiping at her face but she looked okay. As we locked stares, I watched her eyes narrow and knew it was time to go. I bent to pick up the bag I had dropped when we fell.

I backed up and stepped carefully onto the first step, watching Edward. His hands were still extended toward me and his expression was a mixture of pain and shock.

"Bella, you can't leave, we have to get you to the hospital."

"I'm fine, Edward. It's my left hand; I'll be able to drive."

"You can't drive yourself there. You're bleeding, your arm is broken – you'll pass out behind the wheel."

I shook my head. It was stupid and stubborn, but I was leaving and I was leaving now. Things were only going to get worse from here and I had no interest in seeing what "worse" looked like. Another shouting match with Alice? More glares from Rose? Tempting pleas from Edward?

I would just breathe through my mouth and keep the windows down.

Edward took a step toward me and I backed down another stair. He stopped, his eyes imploring me to stay. "Bella, at least wait for Carlisle to look at you."

"I called him, he's on his way," Emmett said from the doorway. He and Rose were standing there, watching the four of us on the front steps.

"I'll have it taken care of at the hospital, it's not far. I hope you're okay, Alice. I have to go, Edward. I'll talk to you later, okay?" I cleared the final step and gave him a last look before turning toward the street. I heard footsteps behind me as I walked away but then a low, "Let her go for now, man," and the footsteps stopped. I would have to thank Jasper for that someday.

I unlocked my truck and eased myself up into the seat, trying to ignore the little drips of blood on my arms from a dozen cuts and scratches. I would go to the ER; maybe Carlisle would be able to take care of Alice here at the house. My eyes were burning painfully and I knew I would be lucky to get down the street before the tears started to fall.

I started the truck and opened the window to let in fresh air. When I glanced back at the house, Edward was the only one still watching me. Jasper was leading Alice into the house and I couldn't see Rose or Emmett anymore. I raised my right hand in a small wave and struggled to tear my eyes away from Edward's broken expression. My vision blurred as I pulled away from the curb.

I was wrong. I made it exactly a mile before I finally broke down and had to pull to the side of the road to cry over everything I had left behind at that house.

Alice was right. I would never be a Cullen.

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**How close is it to what you were expecting?**

**Come chat about it in the FitV thread on Twilighted - the link is in my profile.**

**Possibly up next, Jasper's post-birthday party thoughts.**

**And hi from a Panera in Vegas. Yeah, yeah, I'm a dork.**


	2. She Is Edward’s ExGirlfriend

**"In Which She Is Edward's Ex-Girlfriend" – Jasper's post-birthday party thoughts.**

**If you choose to read this, I recommend doing so after Chapter 9 of FitV.**

**Legna... well, she did her usual thing. If anything's awesome, it's because of her. If it's not, it's because of me.**

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine.**

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**_Time frame: June 20, 2009 – the day after Chapter Six: "In Which Jasper Paid Attention."_**

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**_In Which She Is Edward's Ex-Girlfriend_**

I'm riding my bike home from the clusterfuck of a birthday party.

There is one particular thing that Alice said that I can't get out of my head. It's on repeat. Stuck. Playing over and over.

_She's Edward's ex-girlfriend_.

I admitted to myself a few weeks ago that my feelings for Bella were starting to be more than platonic. I've seen no sign from her that she feels that way about me, though. Yet. But I can't deny how I feel.

A couple of times, I thought that maybe there was something extra in the way she looked at me, but she turned away before I could tell for sure.

Last night, after the game, I had wanted to go inside with her when she asked. The feel of her arms around me, her perfect body pressed against my back as we'd been coming back from Tacoma.... I think that if we'd hung out for a bit, that maybe something might have happened. But it would have been too hard to leave her, and I had to be up too early for this fucking party. I couldn't have missed it regardless of the state of my non-relationship with Alice; the families are just too close. Although, with the way the party went down, I might as well have just shown up wearing Bella's Forks PD sweatshirt.

But... she's Edward's ex-girlfriend. There's an unwritten rule that makes your buddy's ex-girls off limits. It's hard to ignore that.

Even worse, there's probably an unwritten chick rule that you can't date your ex-boyfriend's friends. Will that curb any interest Bella could have had? I have to face that might be true.

Does she only see me as Edward's friend? Or Alice's ex-boyfriend? We're fucked six ways to Sunday, and not in a good way. Even if she _were_ interested in being more than friends, would she ever act on it? Would I ever know?

_She's Edward's ex-girlfriend._

She's never openly compared me to Edward, but does it run through her mind when she looks at me? My years-long friendship with him? My relationship with Alice? Does she think about how much of a bitch my sister has always been to her? Am I forever tainted by association?

I'm surprised that I'm not even that worried about my less than stellar past, now. Her acceptance was apparent when she reached for my arm without cringing. Maybe that was when I started to feel something more for her.

My own history I can fight past.

But maybe I still don't stand a chance at all.

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**The first look into our boy's head....**

**Up next, the Jasper/Alice breakup.**


	3. They Are Both Just Tired

**I know some of you are going to look at this and think, "What the frick have you done?" I'll admit I bow to the will of the muse, and the muse spoke in screenplay for this one. It's short and hopefully not too painful. I took some liberties with some of the action lines and had to use non-standard formatting to accommodate FFn's limitations. In addition, I'm a screenplay neophyte, so who knows what else is wrong.**

**I recommend reading this in 3/4 width – it'll be easier on the eyes.**

**Disclaimer: They aren't mine, I just break their hearts.**

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**"In Which They Are Both Just Tired" - The J/A breakup.**

**If you choose to read this, I recommend doing so after Chapter 9 of FitV.**

**Legna is my bb and reads my stuff a million times and always helps make it better. Accio also provided invaluable assistance with this craziness.**

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**_Time frame: March 2009 – one month prior to Chapter One: "In Which Jasper Shows Up at the Door."_**

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"**IN WHICH THEY ARE BOTH JUST TIRED"**

**by **

**ElleCC**

FADE IN:

INT. THE CULLEN KIDS' HOUSE - ALICE'S BEDROOM – NIGHT

_ALICE and JASPER are in BED, on their own sides, on their backs. Jasper is on Alice's right side. Both are awake. They're not touching._

**ALICE**

Jasper?

**JASPER**

Yeah?

_Alice rolls onto her side to face Jasper._

**ALICE**

I'm tired.

**JASPER**

Me, too.

_They're quiet for a moment._

**ALICE**

You need help I can't give you.

_Jasper is silent._

**ALICE**

I've tried, Jasper, I've really tried to do everything for you that I thought I could. But it's just not enough and I don't know what else to do.

_Alice is crying now – not something she does often. Jasper rolls over and gathers her into him. He rubs her back while she cries softly._

**JASPER**

I'm sorry I can't be what you want me to be.

_Alice pulls back from Jasper to look at his face._

**ALICE**

Oh, Jasper, that's never been it. I just want you to be happy, that's all.

_Jasper's face shows that he wants to lie and say he's happy, but he can't._

**ALICE**

I always thought I could help you. You know, be happy enough for both of us? I figured it was bound to rub off on you.

**JASPER**

It did, Alice. I've had all of my happiest moments with you.

**ALICE**

Really?

**JASPER**

Really.

_Alice puts her head against Jasper's chest. They're quiet for a few minutes. He continues to rub her back._

**ALICE**

Why aren't you happy now?

_Jasper looks down at Alice and then looks up at the ceiling._

**JASPER**

I don't know, Alice.

(pause)

I'm just... not. I'm sorry.

_Alice puts her left arm over Jasper and hugs him._

**ALICE**

It's okay.

**JASPER**

It's not fair to you to have to deal with me. I'm just dragging you down.

**ALICE**

You're not dragging me down. No one drags down Alice Cullen!

_They both laugh quietly._

**ALICE**

But...

**JASPER**

What, Al?

**ALICE**

I don't think I can do it anymore, Jasper. I'm so sorry.

_Alice is crying again and Jasper holds her._

**JASPER**

It's okay, Alice. I can't ask you to keep trying when I don't even know if there's a way to fix it.

**ALICE**

Don't say that, Jasper.

_Jasper doesn't respond._

**ALICE**

Are you going to be okay?

**JASPER**

Yeah, I'll be fine.

**ALICE**

(softly)

I'll miss you.

**JASPER**

I'll miss you, sweetheart.

**ALICE**

Are you going to hate me for this?

**JASPER**

Never.

**ALICE**

I hope not.

_They lie in silence._

**JASPER**

Do you want me to go?

**ALICE**

No! I mean. Unless you want to?

**JASPER**

I think I'll stay. If that's okay.

**ALICE**

Yeah, it's okay.

(pause)

I love you, Jasper.

**JASPER**

I love you, too, Alice.

FADE OUT:

**THE END**

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**Not quite the drama of the E/B breakup...**

**Next for Embers? I'm not sure. We'll see what the muse, Jasper, and Bella have to say.**

**Update: I have published, in a separate story, a pre-FitV one-shot focusing on sixteen-year-old Jasper. It is called "An All-Consuming Fire." Don't let the Jasper/Maria tag scare you... it's an important piece of our boy's history. If you're interested :)**


	4. Jasper Seizes the Moment

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**CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE END OF FITV**

In September's Support Stacie Auction, JAustenlover (JA) donated a beyond-generous amount of $$ in exchange for words from me. She asked for Jasper's Tuesday-morning surprise ("surprise" is more spoiler friendly :), from his point of view.

**For JA...**

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Time frame: January 28 - 29, 2013 - almost three years after FitV Chapter 22: "In Which the End Is the Beginning."

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_**In Which Jasper Seizes the Moment**_

. . . . . . . .

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."  
- Emily Brontë

. . . . . . . .

"It's perfect."

"You think so?"

"Yup. She'll love it." Emmett slides the ring over the tip of his pinky, barely getting it to the first knuckle before it sticks. He holds his hand out in front of him and tilts it so the stone catches the light of the overhead fluorescents.

"It's not... not enough?"

"Come on, J, how well do you know her? You know this is exactly the kind of ring that Bella will fucking love. It's gorgeous and modest, just like her."

I watch Emmett inspect the ring and nod; he has all but stolen the words from my head. As soon as I had seen it in the jewelry case, I had known it was the right one for her, even though we hadn't talked about rings.

"Nervous?" He arches an eyebrow and jerks his chin toward my leg, which is bouncing restlessly. I've been jittery since I picked up the ring – sized and gleaming – an hour ago, and I can't seem to shake it.

"Yeah, a little." I close my eyes and lean back in the chair, trying to calm myself down. I take a few deep breaths, exhaling through my mouth like my therapist had instructed. It helps.

"What are you panicking about? Are you worried about what she'll say?"

"No, not really, but-"

"No buts. You _know _what she'll say. No question."

He's right. I am almost 100% certain of her response. We haven't talked about it directly, but we've both made enough general comments and references to know that the other is on the same page, and that the book that contains those pages extends very far into the future.

"I want to make it special for her and so far I don't have any ideas."

"Well, don't go overboard – it's Bella. You could probably do it over pizza and she'd be thrilled."

I imagine the way her face would probably light up while she tried not to get pizza sauce everywhere. He's right. She really won't care.

I lean forward, feeling a bit better, and pick up a framed photo on Emmett's desk. "How's my nephew doing?"

"Ah, excellently. We had our four-month well-baby exam last week and he's still in the 99th percentile for height and weight." Hands behind his head, reclined in his desk chair, he's as proud of a dad as I'd expect. "Oh, actually..." He tips forward and rifles through some papers on his desk, finally producing an envelope. He pulls a small photo from it and hands it across his desk. "Alice has been taking a million photos. Rosie wanted to make sure you had one."

In the picture, not-so-little Carter is wearing a shirt with a little football sewn on the front. Ever since Carter entered the world at a generous twenty-three inches – with blue eyes and a full head of curly, dark hair – Edward and I have been betting on whether he'd end up playing defense for the Seahawks or the Canucks. Dan, Alice's boyfriend, is betting on offers from both teams. I'll have to show Edward the photo next time we see him as odds are in my favor.

"Thanks. Bella will love it." I tuck the photo into my wallet and stand. Emmett puts the ring back into its little box and I take it, checking out the ring once more before putting the box in my pocket.

"Keep me posted, man. Rosie's going to flip." He walks around his desk and shakes my hand before stuffing his hands in his pockets. He has a thoughtful look on his face and I wait to see what he has to say. He waits another moment before speaking. "Five years ago, who would have guessed this would happen, huh?"

I chuckle and shake my head. I still remember the first time I officially met Bella. Edward had met her the previous week in one of his classes and they had been so wrapped up in one another when he finally brought her by the house that I wasn't sure she had even caught my name.

"And..." Emmett rubs the back of his neck and looks hesitant. "This is probably going to sound like a bunch of bullshit or whatever, but... It's been a tough year and, all things considered... I'm really proud of you, J." He shrugs and smiles, his hand going back to his pocket.

Coming from anyone other than Emmett, I probably would have bristled. But he's right – it had been a hard year.

We'd all struggled when Mom was sick. While her surgery early last year had been successful, the recovery had been long. Between trying to stay positive for Dad and Rose, and balancing classes and work... Well, Bella, Emmett, and Rose are the only ones who know I had been seconds away from relapse this time last year.

It had taken a good three months before I really felt like myself again, but since then, things had been good. The past four months had been nearly perfect. While Dr. Bennett, the therapist I'd been with since I'd gotten out of rehab three years ago, had twitched an eyebrow in hesitation when I'd mentioned wanting to propose to Bella, she'd been nothing but supportive since then. She regularly asked me about my plans and the ring, probably looking for signs that I was too tense or anxious, which – until I had picked up the ring an hour ago – I hadn't been.

Bella had stood by me the whole time, encouraging me to talk about everything that had been bothering me, going to group meetings, having her own monthly session with a colleague of Dr. Bennett's. Her understanding and love had been rock-solid. Maybe that was why I was so nervous now. Sometimes, I was still unsure about what it was that I could give her that someone else couldn't. This proposal, and making it memorable, was one thing that I _could_ do for her. If I could figure it the fuck out.

. . . . . . . .

"Babe?"

An hour after I get home, Bella's voice startles me out of my thoughts. I quickly close my bedside table drawer, hoping she doesn't need something from there before I get a chance to move the ring box. She's unbuttoning her sweater as she walks into the room.

"You're home early." She smiles as she tosses her sweater over the end of the bed and comes to sit next to me.

"I stopped to see Emmett after lunch and came home afterward." I kiss her hello and push some of her wind-whipped hair behind her ear.

"Everything okay with Em?" A small frown turns down the corners of her mouth and I kiss her again. Her pink cheeks are cold – the winter has been rougher than usual, with high winds and more than our usual share of snow. I rub her face gently with my thumbs, trying to warm her up. When I pull back, she's smiling, her eyes a little brighter.

"He's fine. I just needed to run something by him." We're very open in our communication – something that's a big change from when we first got together – and Bella knows I wouldn't keep anything important from her. I silently hope she doesn't suddenly decide to be nosy. With as amped up as I am about the ring, I'm worried that it won't take much for me to just blurt it out.

"Okay. How's Carter?"

I take out my wallet and show Bella the photo Emmett had given me as I give her the low-down on their visit to the doctor. She gets up to finish changing, but not before snagging the photo and telling me she'll make a copy or see if she can get the digital image from Emmett.

"Did you hear about the snow?" she asks. I watch her as she changes. Track pants replace her slacks; a red hoodie goes on over a long-sleeved t-shirt. Her skin is covered too quickly and I wonder how averse she'd be to me reversing the dressing process.

"Yeah, what are they saying now? Six inches?"

"On the way home, I heard eight to ten."

"Which probably means three inches, max."

She rolls her eyes and throws a pair of my jeans at me. "You're no fun. You want to brave the crowds with me and stock up on bread, milk, and toilet paper?" She grins widely as she pulls her hair into a ponytail and slips on a pair of old running shoes. After growing up in Arizona, she's still eager whenever there's the threat of a snow day. Maybe going out for a bit will be a good distraction from the little box in the bedside table – the little box that still feels like a basketball-sized lump in my pocket.

"You bet. We can even get marshmallows for your cocoa." She chuckles when I swat her ass and we head out the bedroom door.

. . . . . . . .

Two hours later, the snowflakes have started to fall and we've managed to survive the mad crush at the grocery store. The imminent panic that arises at the simple word "snow" will always amaze me. We've bought all of the essentials – including peppers, onions, and fresh tortillas for whatever she has planned for dinner tomorrow night – just in case we're snowed in for a day or two. We put away the groceries and I help Bella throw together some pasta and garlic bread.

By eleven, she's yawning in between jumping up every ten minutes to check the snow status out the window.

"Two inches, I think!"

I flip off the lights in the living room and hall and move to the window to stand behind her. With my arms around her waist, we watch the snow fall for a few minutes. The room is a little cold but her body is warm and I hold her close.

I had thought that finally having the ring in my possession would ease my mind – it was the next to last step of something I had been contemplating for months – but ever since I left Emmett's office, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. What he said has had me thinking all night. Five years ago, things were so different: we were nearing graduation, Bella and Edward were inseparable, and while Alice and I were at the start of our decline, I honestly hadn't been able to picture any future that didn't figure her prominently. It hurts to think about everything we've all been through these past five years, but I can't regret any moment of it, since it led me to this hallway, to this woman.

I press my nose to the top of her head and hope she doesn't turn around and see what is probably a contemplative expression on my face; I'm not sure what I would say if she asks why I've been distracted all night. I shake out of it when she yawns again and stretches in my arms. "Bed?" I ask.

She nods and lets the curtain drop closed. "Maybe by the time we wake up, they'll have closed the schools. Dad won't make you go in for anything, will he?" She twists to look up at me.

I shake my head. "Nope, I'd be yours all day."

"Well, let's hope for some extra heavy snow then, shall we?" She stretches up to kiss me before yanking my hand and pulling me up the stairs.

. . . . . . . .

I'm awake at 5:30 without the alarm. The room is unnaturally quiet, and it takes me a minute to realize there's no sound of cars from Aurora, which is usually busy, even this early in the morning. I look over at Bella: she's curled on her side, facing me. My eyes have already adjusted and I carefully push a few strands of hair away from her mouth. She doesn't move and her little breaths blow across my hand as she sleeps.

Moving slowly so as not to wake her, I slip out of the bed and walk to the window. The streetlight in front of the house illuminates snow that's almost high enough to cover the license plate on the front of my car and is still falling steadily. I grab my phone from the bedside table before leaving the room. A browse to a local news station's website finds that the public school system officially closed an hour ago. I send a quick email to my dad to let him know I'll be home and to call if anything comes up. Things have been pretty quiet the past week or so with my clients, but I'll check my work email later in the day to make sure no one needs anything. I've been with the firm for almost five years and I have to admit that I'm looking forward to finishing my Masters in the spring and moving on to something different.

I get some water from the kitchen and turn up the heat, since we'll be home all day, before heading back to the bedroom. Bella hasn't moved and I sit on the edge of the bed instead of crawling back in with her.

My meds are in the bedside table drawer next to the ring and I swallow them with the water before taking the little box out of the drawer. I don't open it – I just hold it as I think.

Sleep had been elusive during the night. I'd gone through a dozen different proposal scenarios in my head, trying to come up with the perfect one, but had discarded them all. A trip to the baseball stadium where I'd taken her to see Phil play years ago: the season didn't start for another couple of months and I didn't want to wait that long. A trip down to the pier one evening: but what would I do once I got there? Drop to my knee in front of all the world? Bella would be mortified. I briefly entertained the idea of a fancy Valentine's Day dinner before pushing that away with thoughts of Bella laughing at the cliché of it.

Everything I'd thought of was either too simple, too complicated, or too cheesy... Around 2:00 a.m., I had forced my brain to shut off and stop thinking about it temporarily. I have to hope the perfect idea will come once I've stopped worrying about it.

When something brushes my back, I jump.

"Hey, what are you doing? Everything okay?" Bella's cold fingers run over my skin again and goose bumps break out over my arms. The clock's bright red digits read 6:25. I turn around and she's up on her elbow, hair everywhere, eyes only half open.

"I'm fine. Schools are closed." I pick up her hand and squeeze her fingers.

"Yeah?" She smiles and tugs my hand. "Come back to bed, then. You must be freezing."

"I wouldn't be if you didn't steal my clothes." I casually drop the box back into the drawer as I slip under the covers and make my way over to Bella. Hopefully she's still sleepy enough that she didn't notice.

"I like your clothes." She yawns as she slips her arm around my waist. For Christmas, Bella bought me a pair of old-school pajamas – button-down top with drawstring bottoms – but had immediately claimed the shirt as her own. She wears it when I wear the pants; she laughs and says we looked like rumpled magazine models.

I pull her to my chest and she nestles in after she draws the covers up over us. Her voice breaks our comfortable quiet several minutes later. "What are we going to do all day?"

Her breath is warm across my skin, her hand temptingly low on my hip, and more than one creative thought speeds through my mind. I glide my hand down her back to her thigh, which is hitched up over my leg, and run my finger along the hem of my pilfered shirt. "I can think of a few things." I kiss the top of her head as I rub her leg.

"And what will we do for the other fifteen hours?"

I feign a growl and quickly flip her onto her back. Her hands are on my shoulders and she's smirking up at me as I kneel over her. The blankets have fallen away and I yank up the bottom of the shirt to expose her stomach. Brown eyes grow wide as she realizes my intent and tries to shield herself, but her small hands are no match and I grab them both with one hand and push them above her head. She tries to squirm away as I trace lazy designs over her stomach.

"Jasper!" she huffs. "Knock it off!"

"Apologize for questioning my stamina?"

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry! You're fantastic!" She's giggling and gasping; her hair tangles around her as she thrashes in weak protest. Even in the dim light, she's gorgeous and perfect and just... _mine_.

My fingers halt their torture as I freeze above her. I slowly release her arms and bring my hand to her cheek. She quietly regains her breath as she watches me.

"What is it?" she asks softly.

Incapable of articulating the thoughts that are flooding my mind, I just shake my head. Her skin is soft as I run my finger down her cheek and over her jaw. I don't know how I found this girl, or how things had worked out despite how fucked up I'd been when we got together. That she hadn't abandoned me and had instead stood by my side through more shit than anyone should have to deal with was a not-so-small miracle.

"You look sad. What's wrong?" Her forehead creases as she speaks and I gently press the small wrinkles away, smoothing her skin until they disappear and she's smiling tentatively.

"Nothing's wrong. I was just thinking."

"About what?" She hooks her thumbs into my waistband as I balance above her.

"About stupid shit. Like how lucky I am to have you."

"That _is _stupid." She rolls her eyes and makes a noise that's awfully close to a snort. When I don't respond and keep rubbing her forehead, her expression softens. "Tell me what you're really thinking."

I open my mouth to deflect, but like a lightning strike, the idea that _this _is the moment flashes through my head.

Emmett was right. Location doesn't matter. There had never been anything fancy about Bella and me; an extravagant proposal would be inconsistent with who and what we are.

Once the thought is in my head, I can't shake it. I hover over her in uncertainty before making up my mind.

I lower my chest enough to feel the material over her breasts against my chest. Dipping my head down, I kiss her softly, my lips barely touching hers. It's a struggle; as adrenaline courses through my body, I want to crush her to me. I want to take her and mark her as mine in a much more fundamental way than with a piece of jewelry or the tattoo on her back. But as she moves her hands up my back, before she can pull me closer, I push myself up and shift to my side of the bed.

Confusion crosses her face as I pull the little box from the drawer again. My hand is big enough to cover it and I don't think she's seen it. I roll onto my back and slide an arm under her, drawing her on top of me.

"What did you do?" She's looking curiously at my hand as she straddles me, her weight settling on my abdomen. I'm propped up on my pillows and am more reclined than lying down.

I take a deep breath and pause before speaking, squeezing the small box in my hand. Do I really want to do this now?

Yeah, I realize, I really do.

I haven't planned this at all and I have no idea what to say. Mom loves to tell us how Dad had spent two weeks carefully planning a ten-minute speech that he recited as if he were doing community theatre. Even Emmett had something ready to go before he'd asked Rosalie, although he psyched himself out and had ended up winging it all.

My mind is empty and all I can think about is the girl watching me and how I want to spend every one of the minutes I have left, with her, right here in this bed. Or anywhere else she wants to be.

It's when I have that thought that I realize that's all she needs to know – that's the only important thing here.

I hold the box behind her in one hand and rub her hip with the other.

"You know I love you, right?" I start. She nods slowly. The room has been growing slowly brighter and her face is easier to see now. "And you know I would do anything for you?" She nods again, forehead wrinkling.

I grip her hip reassuringly, not wanting her to worry, as I fumble the ring out of the box behind her back. The ring is tiny in my hand but the significance of what it represents makes it feel as if it weighs ten pounds. I take a deep breath, my eyes not leaving Bella's.

She's watching me cautiously, aware something is up. I've never been one for big declarations and I know that if I were her, I'd be wondering what the hell is going on.

I move the hand holding the ring, closed inside my fist, in between us.

"I-" My voice cracks without warning and I stop and clear my throat. Bella frowns as she puts her hand on my fist and rubs it gently with her thumb. I try again, hoping I can get through this without embarrassing myself much further. "I want to make sure you never forget those things."

I flip my hand under hers and open it up. As I raise my hand slightly, bringing hers with it, her fingers drop against my palm and one of them grazes the ring. She shifts her focus from my face to our hands.

Her expression changes the moment she realizes what I'm holding. The crease between her eyes smoothes out as her eyebrows rise and her eyes widen. She brushes her fingertips lightly over the ring before looking back to me.

I have wondered what this moment would be like, if she would do the hands-over-the-mouth thing or cry, or maybe just stare blankly at me. I think I can handle anything but laughter.

As she returns her gaze to mine, she graces me with an expression better than anything I had imagined. There are tears gathering in her lower lashes but at the same time, she has broken into a wide smile that might be bright enough to light the room.

"Jasper." The whisper of her voice contradicts the excitement shining on her face. I release her hip and pick up the ring from my palm, afraid I'll drop it if I try to maneuver it with only the hand that was holding it. I am already knee-deep in the most inelegant proposal of all time; I don't need to make it worse by fumbling the ring.

I hold it up in front of her, between my thumb and index finger. She grips my arm, her thin fingers wrapping tightly around my wrist.

"Babe." When she exhales a tiny, breathless giggle, a single tear toppling to her cheek, I chuckle and try again. "Isabella. I want to be with you always." I pause as she inhales deeply. She's starting to blink rapidly and more tears are joining that first one. Her smile, however, has not wavered. I twist the hand not holding the ring so that we're palm to palm and then push my fingers between hers. She squeezes my hand and wrist tightly and I take it as encouragement to continue with those final words.

"Will you marry me?"

There is no hesitation in her response. She simultaneously nods and gasps out, "Yes, Jasper, yes."

The tears I had expected are falling steadily now and I want to wipe them from her cheeks but am loathe to break the circle she has created by holding on to me. I can feel my face breaking into a smile that matches hers and I think that maybe, as simple as my words were, and as unexpected as this moment is, that I had managed to find the perfect time after all.

We stare at each other for a long moment before her fingers tighten around mine and capture my attention. I pull my fingers away from hers but am careful to hold onto one of them as I release the rest.

I had surreptitiously borrowed a ring Renée gave her last year, which Bella never wears because it only fits on her left ring finger, so I'm not worried the ring isn't the right size. Yet, in the second before I slip the ring over her fingertip, nerves twist my gut.

They dissipate as quickly as they came as I slide the ring down her finger until it's in place. I draw my fingers gently back up hers before letting go and settlings my hands on her thighs.

Much as Emmett had done yesterday, she tips her hand to examine the ring. I watch her carefully, waiting for an indication of how she feels about it.

The ring is very simple, and after spending ninety minutes with a salesperson, I have the vocabulary to describe it: a princess-cut solitaire on a platinum band in a cathedral setting. The stone isn't much bigger than a carat and it's a far cry from the flashier rings my mom and Rose wear, but when I see it on her hand, I know that my instinct was right: it's perfectly Bella.

"It's..." She trails off as she continues to study the ring. Her right hand is now on my stomach, just above where she's sitting, and she's absently rubbing my bare skin. "I love it," she whispers, looking at me over her hand. "I love you."

She drops her hand and leans forward at the same time I reach up to pull her down to me. Our lips meet and I can taste the salt of her tears on my tongue. Her arms slip around my neck as I encircle her with mine and we hold one another as close as possible.

Goose bumps raise her skin as I slip my hands up the back of her shirt. We roll over, my body covering hers, and our kissing intensifies, accompanied by small groans and eager hands.

"I love you so much," I breathe. She nods and presses her head into the pillow, her lips a tight line as I explore her long neck with my mouth.

I lift myself so I can undo the buttons of her shirt and push the two sides apart. Skin-to-skin contact with her has grounded me for three and a half years; I crave it when she's not near and have to take advantage of it now. I trace her curves, caressing and worshipping as I move my hand across her breasts, over her stomach, between her legs. Her panties slide easily down her hips and legs while she tugs the knot from my pants; I discard both pieces of clothing before settling over her again.

The moment I enter her has never lost power over the years. Every time is as meaningful as the last, whether we're joining out of heated lust or something deeper, because it's never just simple need with her. It never has been; it has always been _more_.

We move together slowly at first, her hands roaming my back and tangling in my hair. Our breathing and speed increase and we roll to our sides, her leg over my hip holding me to her. At this angle, I can slip a hand between our bodies and help her feel what I'm feeling as I move within her: the slow-building swell of pleasure.

Minutes later, she's crying out and arching back, her body tightening all around me. She digs her fingers into my shoulders and I'm not far behind. I pull her so our chests are flush, wanting her damp skin against mine while I breathe against her mouth.

This close to her, I want to say things filled with meaning and import but all I can do is hold her tightly while I shudder and still against her and hope that my touches against her skin convey what I feel.

She rests against me while we catch our breath, and then slides out of bed. "Be right back." Her see-you-in-a-moment kiss is heated and I'm tempted to pull her right back down on top of me. She tugs herself from my grasp with a little smirk, and then disappears from the room.

She's back in bed a few minutes later with a cup of cocoa for us to share, nestling herself under the covers and into my side. The hand with the ring rests on my chest and we both stare at it as we relax and enjoy the tranquil air and muffled sounds of life as the world outside wakes up.

"I can't believe you did that."

"Which part? The asinine in-bed proposal?"

She looks up at me and rolls her eyes. "No, although the location is going to make it difficult to share the whole story with the family." I grin as I imagine how brightly she'll blush anytime someone asks how we got engaged. "I meant the surprise of it. I really didn't see it coming."

"No?" She shakes her head. "I hope it was a good surprise."

"Yes, it was a good surprise." She kisses my chest and hands me the cocoa to put down. I wrap my arm more tightly around her shoulders and watch as she slowly twists the ring around her finger.

"I'll have to call Angela and Renée later," she says a few minutes later. "They're both going to be excited. Oh!" She suddenly stiffens against my body and I pull back so I can see her whole face. "And Charlie!" She's wide-eyed and I have to chuckle.

"Don't worry, he's expecting you."

She props herself up on her elbow. "What do you mean? He knows? But I thought-"

"He didn't know it would be today, but he knew it was coming." She arches an eyebrow and waits. "I talked to him last month, when we were in Forks for Christmas."

"Oh." She purses her lips, head tilting in a move that is eerily similar to what Charlie had done. "I bet that was an interesting conversation. What did he say?"

Charlie still isn't my biggest fan, although our relationship has improved considerably from the silent glares and disapproving head shakes it used to be. I had asked for a moment of his time while Bella was occupied on the phone with Renée, and we'd stepped out onto their porch.

"He was very... Charlie about the whole thing, and offered up two bits of advice." She nods, eyes slowly lighting with amusement. "'Don't rush' and 'keep it simple.'"

She looks relieved and exhales. "Yeah, that sounds about right. And those are _good_ things, babe." Her lips meet mine as she stretches to kiss me and I can feel her smiling. "So," she says as she pulls back, "what are we going to do with the rest of the day, Mr. Hale? We still have those fifteen hours to occupy."

"Well, Ms. Sw-" I break off as something occurs to me. She's watching me and catches the uncertainly that I feel wrinkle my forehead.

"Hey, no frowning today."

"Oh, I was just wondering..."

"Wondering what?" She runs her hand through my hair, her fingertips working their calming magic.

"Are you going to take 'Hale'? We've never talked about it."

She looks surprised. "Why wouldn't I?"

I shrug, my shoulders rising against the pillow behind me. "My sister almost didn't take 'Cullen.'"

"Well," she says, fingers twirling through my hair, tugging gently, "that's your sister, not me."

"Didn't she think about hyphenating? I don't even know what changed her mind."

"I think she was worried about too many Ls."

I blink a couple of times. "What?"

"Rosalie Lillian Hale-Cullen." She emphasizes all of them as she says it.

"That _is _a lot of Ls." And it's definitely something that Rose would consider.

"Oh, I don't know. I don't think you can ever have too many Ls."

I think about it and let it roll around in my head before letting it out. "Bella Hale... That's not too bad, huh?"

"No," she says, laughing as she leans into me for another kiss. "It's not too bad. In fact, it's perfect."

_Perfect_.

It's not a word that has often been used to describe my life, but right now, it does.

It's perfect.

* * *

**I have posted a handful of FitV-Canon pieces in my "Twilight Twenty-Five" entries: "Soft," "Platonic," "Raindrops," and "Crusade." And "Sky" is FitV-AU (aka "FitV-Nightmare").**

**Whether or not I could ever live up to JA's expectations is debatable; hopefully this is in the ballpark. First thanks goes to her for being **_**so**_** generous. I was honored to have the opportunity to help Stacie in this way.**

**Legna betaed, encouraged, and said things that made me happy and relieved. I really miss doing FitV stuff with her, so this was nice. She'll always be my L.**

**LaViePastiche listened to me bitch and moan through two solid weeks of the worst writer's block I've ever had, and then forced me to _just_ _write_ just as I was about to throw myself off a cliff.**

**AngstGoddess003 made me a super-duper banner to go with this (using a pic LVP found that helped with aforementioned writer's block) – I posted it in my T'ed thread. **

**A whole bunch of really fabulous fics came out of September's auction. Two to note: americnxidiot's second epilogue for "Beautiful Beat" and inabluebathrobe's "Wings."**** Both make me cry, in the best possible way.**

**And last but not least, the generosity of this fandom astonishes me. We raised over $20k during Support Stacie, and right now, Ninapolitan, tbynumbers, and LolaShoes are organizing another auction to support Alex's Lemonade Stand, a foundation that fights childhood cancer. You can find information about that at thefandomgivesback(dot)com.**

**Thanks for reading, everyone :)**


	5. Emmett Makes an Impression

**I wrote this for Ninapolitan's "Friday Free for All" on Twilighted. Every week, a different Twific author writes a one-shot—****either something completely new or an outtake from an existing story, which is what I did. FFFA is a companion to her "Smut Monday" series. **

**The content of this is a bit more explicit than what you'll find in FitV. If that isn't your thing, you may not want to continue. I won't be offended :)**

**This "incident" was mentioned during the football game in Chapter 17: "In Which All is Fun in Love and Football." This is the "missing moment" type of outtake, since it did actually happen.**

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_**Time frame: February 2005 – about four years prior to Chapter One.**_

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In Which**__** Emmett Makes an Impression**_

"I can't believe Alice got you into a tie." Rosalie's words were low in my ear as she tugged on the tie and pulled my face toward hers.

"Hey, I wear ties sometimes." My protest was distracted, all my attention shamelessly focused on getting my hands on her, since we were finally alone. Her legs had been on display all night, and with her grandparents around, the opportunity to get more than a passing feel of her smooth skin had been nonexistent. She tipped her head and our lips met long enough to say "hey" and "how are ya," and then I was on to her jaw while my hands wandered lower.

"The last time you wore a tie was for the Senior Banquet, almost two years ago," she said as she yanked my shirt out of my pants.

"You remember that?" I disengaged my lips from her neck to pull back and look at her face.

She rolled her eyes and yanked on the tie again before loosening the knot. "Of course. Emmett Cullen in a tie? Not easily forgotten."

I really wanted to take a moment to comment that Rosalie Hale's legs in a skirt were about a thousand times more interesting, but the pale skin leading into the wide neck of her red sweater was calling to me, and had been since she answered the door three hours ago. I brushed her hair off her shoulder and slipped my fingers under the neckline of the sweater while my other hand briefly squeezed her tit before heading down her stomach.

"Alice wanted us to look good for Nana and Papa Hale." A black bra strap came into view as I pulled the sweater over her shoulder. I wanted to tug it farther but I could already feel it resisting, and the last thing I wanted was to get yelled at for stretching the material. I released it and ran my hand down her back instead, pausing when I came to the hem, which was resting at the top of her ass.

"They've always loved both of you. And you know that Nana thinks you're the greatest thing since Brando." Rose's nails scraped my stomach as she pushed her hands under my shirts.

"Yeah, well, you know Alice. Any opportunity to wear fancy shit."

"I'll have to thank her for that later. Come here." She gripped my sides firmly and pulled me toward her. She was wearing her ridiculously fucking tall heels, so I didn't have to do much more than bend my neck about two inches to reach her open mouth.

I'd barely touched my lips to hers before her tongue was pushing in. I could taste the wine she'd been drinking, and her lip stuff, and it felt good to have her body against mine after having to observe a respectful two-foot radius while we were around the other party-goers. I lifted the bottom of her sweater, only intending to get my hands on her stomach, but the moment I touched her skin with the backs of my fingers, I had to have the sweater off.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, baby." She pulled back and her hands halted the progress of the sweater over the black bra while she glanced to her right.

"It's locked, relax." I brushed my lips against hers in an attempt to distract her from the fact that we were only thirty feet from her family, locked door or not. Yeah, we'd been regularly getting down to our birthday suits in her bedroom since we'd been dating, but this wasn't quite the same. There was no need to point that out, though.

When she nodded and raised her arms, I started pulling upward again, careful to brush her nipples with my thumbs as I slid the sweater the rest of the way up her chest. She ducked her head as I pulled it off and tried not to tangle her hair. I dropped it neatly on top of the dryer before taking a step back to survey the situation.

_"Fuck." _The red sweater and black skirt combination had been lethal, but it paled in comparison to the the see-through lace and toned stomach now on display. She leaned back against the washing machine, palms flat on the top, and the upper half of each breast—nearly to the nipple—strained against the edge of the lace. Her tits were perfect no matter what, but in that bra, they were fucking magical.

"Problem there?" She laughed and looked down at my crotch as I adjusted myself.

"No problems here." I stepped back into her, forcing her against the washing machine as her tits pushed into me, and my dick pushed against her. "Molly Simms has nothing on you, baby." She looked away quickly and did her signature hair-over-the-shoulder thing, and if I hadn't know her better, I would have sworn that she was blushing. I wrapped an arm around her back, and pressed my mouth to her neck.

"We better hurry up before someone comes looking for us," she said, hips rubbing and pressing against mine.

"Better hurry up what?" Without the sweater in the way, I was more than enjoying being able to put my mouth all over her skin and wasn't feeling inclined to rush.

"_Oh_." Her breath hitched as I dragged down the cup of her bra, but she quickly recovered. "Didn't you want to fuck?"

My tongue stilled on her shoulder. In what felt like half of a second, the laundry room went from just above freezing to blazing. If the feel of her hands on my skin hadn't already had me sweating, I sure as fuck would have started when those words left her mouth.

I pulled back slowly to see if she was just screwing with me. I wasn't opposed to it, even though it would have to be at the speed of sound, but I hadn't pulled her away from the party with the intent of doing much more than what I was now.

"Please tell me you're not kidding."

She shook her head, eyebrow and corner of her mouth both arched. "Would I joke about that?"

Before she could think better of it—because really, it was a bad fucking idea—I pressed my mouth against hers and held her waist while she hoisted herself onto the washing machine. Her knees brushed me as she tried to raise her legs, and I gave her a hand with pushing her skirt up her thighs.

"You're gonna have to be quiet, you know. Not really your forte."

She huffed audibly and bit my upper lip before pushing me back so that she could get at my belt. "Look who's talking, Pavarotti."

"Hey, that was just that one time, and only because you did that thi-" My thought train derailed in a screech of metal as she unceremoniously pushed down my pants and boxers with one hand and grabbed my dick with the other. "Jesus, Rosie, your hand is fucking _freezing_."

"Oh, don't be a baby. This will warm it up a bit." Her hand was already moving hard and fast, and I had to admit that she was probably right. I dropped my hands to the top of the washing machine, next to her thighs, and rested my head against her shoulder. It was already taking a lot of effort not to groan—maybe doing this wasn't the best idea we'd ever had. But, well, we were already halfway there, so....

I lifted my head and found her mouth waiting for me. Once my tongue was pushing insistently against hers, I put my hands back on her spread legs and pushed them up her tight thighs until I felt her panties under my fingertips. A quick perusal suggested the rough material was lace to match the bra.

I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth and then muttered, "Up," on my next exhale. I almost whimpered when she released my dick, but then her ass was off the washing machine, and I was able to pull her panties down her legs. They joined the sweater.

"I'll have to be-" she said as she scooted her butt closer to the edge.

"You're not too cold, ar-"

"No, no," she panted as I returned my hands to the tops of her thighs. One of the advantages of big hands was that with my fingers splayed out, I could pull her closer to me and still push my thumbs between her legs. She jerked against my hand as I pushed one thumb against her clit and slid the other one lower to make sure she was as aroused by this as I was.

She broke from my mouth to throw her head back and moan as I pushed against her lightly and then with more pressure.

"Fuck, that's good, Em."

I became momentarily distracted by the sight of her tits arched forward, but she brought me back when she hooked her legs around my thighs and pulled me roughly forward. My knees hit the washing machine, and all of our movement halted when the dull, _loud_, metallic sound rang through the small room.

"Shit," she mumbled, casting an apprehensive look at the door. We were both silent for a moment, waiting to see if we could hear any voices, but aside from our own breathing, the room was quiet.

Almost like I was moving underwater, afraid to do something that would get us caught, I let go of one of her legs to grip my dick. She had already moved forward enough that all I had to do was push my hips forward just the slightest amount and I was right there, where I'd been a thousand times before, and would be a million more, if I had anything to say about it.

I stilled again for a moment, my dick pressed against her, and she dropped her head forward to meet my gaze. The fire in her crystal blue eyes almost had me coming all over her before I'd even begun.

"Happy Valentine's Day, baby," I murmured as I slid into her.

Everything went from slow motion to fast forward then. Her legs clamped around mine, pulling rhythmically and helping me rock into her—not that I really needed the help. I leaned forward to stick my tongue back into her hot mouth as I groped her tit with one hand and held on to her hip with the other. I could feel her starting to slide across the dryer's glossy metal surface, so I slipped my hand from her hip to her ass while I pinched her nipple and marveled to myself how every time with her was better than the last, even if it was just a quick fuck during a party.

"Is it okay?" I groaned out as I pushed my hips against hers, trying to work the slightly strange angle. It wasn't awful, but the washer was really a little too low for maximum fucking efficiency.

I could feel myself leaning forward more and more, and when I broke from Rose's lips to look up, I found that I had pushed her into almost a recline, and her head was inches from smacking into the wall or the control panel on the dryer. The position of her hands against the wall behind her—which very nicely pushed her tits out, I couldn't help but notice—explained why they weren't in my hair or on my ass or somewhere else, like they usually were.

"Um, actually..." She trailed off as I licked her lips, and then her eyes flew open. "Actually, it's a little uncomfortable."

If I hadn't been balls deeps in her, I probably would have chuckled because I could tell that she she was waffling between wanting me to keep going and wanting me to get the fuck off her. To save her the decision, I ignored all of my instincts and pulled out. It took two backward steps before I remembered that my pants were around my ankles. I barely stopped myself from crashing into a metal shelf of random canned food and boxes of pasta.

"Fuck, this is... just..." I sputtered as I tried to catch my breath. Rose clamped her hand over her mouth, her eyes bright above her hand, trying to muffle her laughter. I waited for a couple of beats before glaring at her. "Are you fucking done?" I tried to sound serious and put out by her obvious indifference to what would have surely been a catastrophic and potentially dick-threatening fall, but it was nothing if not difficult to be angry with her when she was half naked and mid-coital. When she nodded, still looking amused, I helped her slide off the dryer. Before I even had to say anything, she turned herself around and put her hands on top of it.

I wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her ass out a bit more, and then lifted my shirttails out of the way. Her skirt was still up around her waist—not surprising given how it had been nearly spray painted on.

I brushed her hair out of my way as I leaned forward and pressed my mouth to her ear. "Is this better?"

Her lips landed on mine as she quickly turned her head and breathed, "Yeah, baby. Get to it." She wiggled her hips a bit as I pushed the head of my dick into her, and we both groaned as she ground herself against me and took me the rest of the way in.

I rocked slowly against her for a minute, enjoying her wet mouth, the way her tongue knew exactly how to wind around mine, the feel of her firm body against my chest and thighs, even if we weren't skin-to-skin. When the urge to push her down and rail her like the fucking Neanderthal that I was usually accused of being became too intense, I detached my mouth from hers and straightened up.

With both hands gripping her hips tightly and my eyes locked on hers as she watched me over her shoulder, I thrust into her once, slowly, and then again, almost as hard as I could. Her eyes snapped closed as her thighs and hips hit the washing machine, and I watched her lips turn nearly white as she bit down and tried not to holler.

"Good girl," I murmured. It was becoming harder and harder to focus on anything other than her wet heat, and to ground myself a bit and make sure I didn't completely lose it, I ran a hand over her smooth back before slipping it around to her tit as I moved in her. It felt so good that I quickly relocated my other hand, as well. Half of her bra was still in position, and I speedily remedied that, and then the world was as it should be as her firm tits fell into my hands.

"God, _Em_...." she practically wailed as I pushed into her particularly hard. I released one of her tits to cover her mouth with my hand, and curled over her back.

"Ssh, baby," I managed between grunts. "We're almost there." I kept my hand on her mouth as I kissed the back of her neck. The tight, familiar warmth that had started low in my stomach was radiating outward, and if she could hold on just another couple of minutes without moaning so loudly that she attracted attention, we'd be in the clear. When her mouth shifted and closed over two of my fingers, I decreased that two minutes to one.

Between her high-pitched whimpers and the way her pussy was starting to squeeze me more tightly, I could tell that her orgasm was as close as mine was. To speed things up, I released her other tit and slid my hand down her side and between her legs. Two fingers against her clit, my mouth on her neck, and my dick buried in her, and seconds later I had to yank my hand from her mouth when she practically amputated my fingers as she came.

She collapsed forward a bit on the dryer, back heaving, and I was halfway to re-situating my hands on her hips when she lifted herself a bit.

"Almost there?" She was still panting, and her eyes were heavy when she looked back at me, but the moment I nodded, she thrust back at me so hard that I almost fell over.

"_Fuck_, Rose," I groaned. I dug my fingers into her skin and pushed back at her just as hard. "I-"

_"Rosalie? Sweetheart?"_

If I thought my heart almost stopped earlier when my knee banged the dryer, it was nothing compared to the full cardiac arrest I was about to suffer. And at the tender age of twenty, too. We both froze and ceased all fucking, breathing, _everything_, as Nana Hale's voice drifted toward us through the closed laundry room door.

"_Rosalie?"_ she called again.

"You're sure the-" she whispered fiercely at me.

"Yes, it's fucking locked, I checked." I rubbed her back for a minute, and we both continued to stare at the door. When things were quiet for ten seconds, I slowly started moving in her again. I'd been pretty close to losing it before we were scarily interrupted, and my orgasm had definitely been deterred, but as Rose bit her lip and stared up at me, hair wild and stuck to the sides of her face, fingers gripping the dryer, I decided to take it as a sign that maybe I was due another few minutes of pure fucking heaven. I bent my knees a bit to try a different angle, and thrust forward.

"Shit, Rosie, that's so g-"

_"Well, I don't know why they'd be in there, but we've checked everywhere else." _This time Nana Hale's sweet, nails-on-a-chalkboard voice was followed by a very distinct sound, which even in my lust-haze, my brain was able to quickly identify.

The terrifying sound of a door knob rattling.

My brain also recognized the following click.

And then the quiet, squeaky opening of a door not used very often.

Unfortunately, all common sense fled us again, so when the door swung open two seconds later, and Nana Hale's expectant face appeared in the doorway, we were just as we'd been: Rosalie bent over a dryer, tits hanging out, her bare ass more or less in the air; and me, naked from the waist down, dick several inches into her only granddaughter.

If I'd been able to watch Rosalie's face at the same time, I'm almost positive it would have drained of color as fast as her grandmother's did. But I could only watch one of them, so I didn't miss how Nana Hale's eyes grew so wide and her face so white as she stared at us that I was nearly sure she was going to have a stroke or a heart attack or some other very unhealthy event. Then, to make matters worse, I almost groaned when Rosalie's whole body tensed as another voice followed Nana's.

"Nana, there's no- Oh shit." Jasper appeared behind his grandmother, his mouth hanging open for just a second before it audibly snapped closed. He quickly stepped forward, put an arm around her shoulders, and turned her forcefully away from us. As he pulled her with one arm, he yanked the door shut behind them, but not before I saw his face twist in a grimace while he rolled his eyes.

As soon as the door shut behind him—minus the telltale click of it being securely closed—we fell apart. I sprawled across Rosalie's back, my face in her hair, and our bodies shook as we both tried not to laugh too loudly.

"Holy fuck, Rose, we are so fucked."

"Oh my god, Em, did you see her face?"

"Well," I said as she shoved me away enough that she could turn around. Her arms were warm as she circled them around my waist. "Any chance she was talking about _Last Tango in Paris_ Brando? Because then maybe I still have a chance."

* * *

**If you're not familiar with the FFFA series, check it out. Among all of the other great entries, LaViePastiche wrote an awesome SoaPM outtake a couple of months ago.**

**Thanks to Legna for betaing****, being a wiz with chapter titles, and endless ficwifery encouragement. Thanks to LVP for inspiration and a hearty pre-read.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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